Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-06-25

one more plCluTe, ailu lndl Is olepucH
asleep. With "a pathos and simplicity
peculiar to the Scriptures, the text
says of Stephen: '.He fell asleep"
o." you say, what a place that was
to sleep! A hard rock under him,
stones falling down upon him, the
blood streaming, the mob bowling.
What a place it was to sleep!" And
yet the text takes that symbol OF slum-
Der to describe his departure, SO sweet
was it, SO contented was it, so peaceful
was it. Stephen had led a very laberi-
Gus life. His chief work had been to
care for the poor. How many loaves
of bread he distributed, how many
bare feet he had sandaled, how many
cots of sickness and distress he blessed
with ministries of kindness and love,
do not know; but from the way he
lived, and the way he preached, and
the way he died, l know he was a
Christian. Rnt that is all over now.
He has pressed the cup to the last faint
ing lip. He has taken the last insult
from his enemies. The last stone to
whose crushing weight he is suscepti
~ Has btth III lNus ottpbCI 10 NbttAi
The disciples come. They take him
up. They wash away the blood from
the wounds. They straighten out
the bruised limbs. They brush
back the tangled hair from the
brow and then they pass around
to ioof upon the calm countenance of
hin. who had lived for the poor and
died for the truth. Stephen asleep! |
have seen the sea driven with the hur-
ricane until the tangled foam caught in
the rigging, and wave rising above
wave seemed about TO storm the heav-
ems; and then / have seen the tempest
drop, and the waves crouch, and every
thing become rs smooth and FURNISHED
as though a camping place for the
glories of heaven. So | have seen 2
man whose life has been tossed and
driven, coming down at last to I'D in
finite calm, in which there was tn,
hush Of
HEAVENS LULLABY.
; Stephen asleep! | saw such a one
: He fought all his days against povert,
, and abuse. They traduced his name
They ratified at his door knob while h,
. was dying. with duns for debts HI
could no pay; yet the peace of Go,
: brooded over his pillow, and while tn
world faded heaven dawned. and tn
: deepening twilight of earth's night wa
, only the opening twilight of heaven
" morn. Not IA SIGH. Not a tear. No
Il struggle. Hush! Stephen asleep!
= l have not the faculty to tell til
: weather. can never tell by the SCI
u ting sun whether there will be
drought or not. cannot tell by tn
blowing of the wind whether it will b
= fair weather or foul on the morrow
But l can prophesy, and | wi
!, prophesy what weather it wi
he when you, the Christian, con
: to die. You may have 1t very roug
: now. 1t may be this week one annoy
ance, the next another annoyance. |
may be this ear one bereavement, tn
= next another bereavement. Before thi
, year has passed you may have to be;
for bread, or ask for a scuttlc of Goa
= or a pair of shoes; but spread you
death couch amid the leaves OF tn
. fol est, or make it out of the straw of
. pauper's hut, the wolf in the jungl
bowling close by, or memorable credit
= ors Jerking the pillow from under you
- dying head-Chrlst will come in and
DARKNESS WILL GO OUT.
? And though there may be no hand t
close your eyes, and no breast o.
which to rest your dying head, and n
candle to lift the night, the odors O
o Gods hanging garden Will regale you
soul, and at your bedside will halt tn
chariCts of the king. No more rents t
pay, no more agony because flour ha
gone up, no more struggle with 18th
world, the flesh, and the devil" bu
peace-long, deep, everlasting peace
Stephen asleep!
0 "Asleep in Jesus, blessed sleep,
J From which none ever wake to weep;
o A calm and undisturbed repose,
., Uninjured by the last of foes.
"Asleep In Jesus, far from thee
n Thy kindred and their graves msy be;
Il But there is still a blessed sleep,
from which none ever wake to weep"
o You have seen enough for n morr
ing. No one can successfully examin
more than five pictures in q day
n Therefore we stop, having seen tn
s cluster of Divine Raphaels-Stephe
h gazing into heaven; Stephen lookin
e at Christ; Stephen stoned; Stephen i
his dying prayer; Stephen asleep.